"Yanzi, I think it's fine. In fact, under this sunlight, I actually feel quite comfortable."
Beside her, Ye Lingling—dressed just as lightly—didn't feel the same way as Dugu Yan. She gave a half-hearted reply and shoved a popsicle into her mouth, eating happily and feeling refreshed.
Over the past few days, her impression of Xu Yang had improved considerably, and she was now more willing to befriend this disciple of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
Meanwhile, the four boys—Yufeng, Oslo, Shi Mo, and Shi Mu—were sitting quietly nearby, eyes half-closed, staring at the two girls with a dazed look, practically drooling. The heat didn't seem to bother them in the slightest.
Not far away, Yu Tianheng sat cross-legged, eyes shut in focused cultivation.
"Do you think I'm like you?!"
Dugu Yan rolled her eyes. With their spirit power, most Spirit Masters could easily suppress the effects of high temperatures. A simple circulation of soul power was enough to dispel the heat.
But she was different. As a serpent-type Spirit Master, her martial soul—the Jade Phosphor Serpent—was innately yin-aligned and thrived in cold environments. She detested heat, and even worse, under the sunlight, she could feel her Jade Phosphor Serpent venom becoming restless.
It was precisely this inner venom, combined with her spirit's affinity for cold, that made her so uncomfortable right now.
Yes, ever since she awakened her martial soul and attached her spirit rings, she had realized she was poisoned—by her own martial soul. Being a poison-type Spirit Master herself, there was no way she couldn't sense the potent venom within. But she had no idea how to bring it up with her grandfather. She always thought that, just like him, once her cultivation deepened, she could naturally suppress or ignore the poison.
"Oh, I almost forgot—you're a Jade Phosphor Serpent Spirit Master!"
Ye Lingling said with zero guilt as she leaned over, wrapped her arm around Dugu Yan's, and smilingly stuffed her half-eaten popsicle into her mouth in a gesture of apology.
Dugu Yan rolled her eyes again but didn't mind. She took the popsicle and swallowed it in one bite to cool herself off.
She turned her gaze to Xu Yang, who was still cultivating, and said enviously, "So envious... Xu Yang's martial soul can actually accelerate cultivation. No wonder the Sect Master Ning took him as a personal disciple. Reaching Rank 23 in less than two years—just incredible."
Ye Lingling nodded in agreement. Just the ability to boost cultivation was enviable enough. As children of noble clans, they fully understood how crucial it was to train during the golden years of development.
"That's just the nature of his martial soul. You can't envy that! Instead of complaining, it'd be better to focus on closing the gap. Look at how hard Yu Tianheng is working."
At that moment, Xu Yang's voice rang out. The two girls looked over and saw that he had finished cultivating and was smiling at them. He gestured toward Yu Tianheng, clearly suggesting they learn from him.
Yu Tianheng had indeed been spurred into action by Xu Yang's progress. As a proud member of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, he couldn't stand the idea of being surpassed in cultivation speed. He was pushing himself to train 24/7, unwilling to fall behind in both strength and soul power.
Both girls rolled their eyes in unison and turned away, deciding to ignore this show-off.
Seeing that they were ignoring him, Xu Yang simply shook his head and didn't try to press it. Instead, he walked over to a nearby table, pulled out several deep blue metal pieces and a carving knife from his storage ring, and began working with intense concentration.
He carefully channeled his soul power into the tip of the carving knife, engraving formation patterns onto the metal. This was a design for a Tier-1 Soul Tool he had found in a book from the Heaven Dou Imperial Library—an auxiliary tool similar to a microscope, used in forging soul tools.
He planned to shape it into a monocle for convenience during future soul tool research.
According to the theory he'd read, the so-called core formation patterns were essentially precise soul power circuits engraved onto metal or gemstones. Every soul skill had a corresponding circuit pattern. So as long as one understood the technique, any soul skill could be referenced and turned into an engraved pattern to create a Soul Tool.
Thus, as long as one grasped the fundamental principles of soul tool design and possessed sufficient cultivation, it was entirely possible to independently create some simple high-level soul tools.
Seeing Xu Yang ignoring her again and busy with his metal scraps, Dugu Yan felt slightly annoyed. Someone as beautiful as her—when had she ever been treated so coldly?
She strolled over and sat beside him, asking curiously, "Xu Yang, I've been meaning to ask—what exactly are you doing?"
"I'm making a Soul Tool," Xu Yang replied without looking up. Thanks to his multitasking ability, he could both carve and answer questions with ease.
He was genuinely fascinated by Soul Tools. In his previous life, he was basically a tech geek who loved tinkering with machinery. After arriving in this world and learning about Soul Tools, he couldn't resist the urge to explore them.
"Oh." The moment she heard the words Soul Tool, Dugu Yan lost all interest. Looking at how serious Xu Yang was, she tried to advise him: "Spirit Masters should focus on strengthening themselves. If you waste time on these kinds of side pursuits, it'll hurt your cultivation."
"It won't! As long as I don't get obsessed and neglect my training, making Soul Tools won't hinder my growth—in fact, it actually helps improve soul power control."
With the final stroke complete, Xu Yang looked up and smiled at her. Creating Soul Tools truly did refine his control over soul power. In just a couple of weeks, he felt like his precision had doubled.
Think about it—engraving intricate formation patterns on a piece of metal no bigger than a fingernail, with every cut guided by soul power and needing to be millimeter-perfect. Repeating that over and over—how could his soul power control not improve?
As he spoke, Xu Yang turned his gaze to the deep-blue metal piece in his hand. A smile lit up his eyes—after consuming forty pieces of Sea Blue Gold, he had finally succeeded in engraving the core soul power circuit.
Under Dugu Yan's stunned gaze, Xu Yang assembled the metal plate with a finely-polished transparent gemstone lens to form a monocle.
He picked up the monocle, carefully examined it, then placed it over his eye and infused it with soul power to begin testing.
In Xu Yang's field of view, the carving knife on the table could now be magnified or reduced in real-time via soul power control. Though he couldn't tell the exact magnification, the image was crystal clear—even the blade's tiny damages from solar soul power could be seen clearly.